Local Voices: Orland Park and Palos Park

I am a freshman in college, and I think bullying has become an epidemic. Between school and online, there are many opportunities to become a victim or the antagonist in a bullying situation.

The solution to this crisis is at home. I have a sister who is a freshman in high school. Since we do not go to the same school, it is difficult to understand what goes on at her school. I feel that parents are faced with a similar issue.

The term "bullying" needs to be redefined. It has lost its power. It is such a general term that is constantly overused. When children hear the term "bullying," they often do not think they are a victim. But when asked the specifics of a situation, they may, in fact, be a victim of bullying.

Children do not necessarily want to discuss such issues with their parents. They often feel that they do not want to burden their parents or their parents will not understand. As parents, adults need to approach their children ready to listen. It's best that the issue is not categorized as bullying using other terms such as "drama" to disguise the topic at hand.

Bullying is a serious issue that has become widespread. The way bullying is approached needs to be reinvented so that people take it more seriously. To prevent more cases, there needs to be an intervention. "Bullying" should no longer be a blanket term; there needs to be specifics about the matter to put it to an end.

Despite the obvious failure of another round of prohibition, the benefactors of drug-war irrationality ask that we, the people, ignore what we know and many have experienced, especially the very sick who are benefiting from medical marijuana in its many ingestible forms — smoked, eaten and vaporized.

Illinois can be proud to become the 19th state where voters and state legislators have helped patients live with serious illness without opioids and other more dangerous and often ineffective medicines.

And after enactment of this new law, police officers can continue to use performance tests to determine whether someone is driving under the influence of a substance that is affecting driving performance.